Lisa Gets Leaner | Weekly Weigh-In | 28.07.15

Sup.

Unsurprisingly, after binging, purging and soul food I have gained weight.

Hopefully getting back up to 14 st is the kick up the bum I need to try to lose weight again properly. I've had a serious lack in motivation and need to get it back. I am so glad that the bulimic behaviours haven't resulted in weight loss. They never did for me. But, I am still one and a half stone lighter than when I began this weight loss journey, and all the loss has been through healthy methods.

Now, I must go back to doing as little as possible :) Ciao!

Skincare | Sinivalia Aloe Vera Body Butter - First Impressions

I know, I know, 4 posts in a week. I'm like a real blogger! I would't get used to it though - I work lots for a spoonie and that takes up all my spoons, especially in the summer. This is the third First Impressions post of the week and also of my blogging life. This time the product in hand is Sinivalia's Aloe Vera Body Butter*.

When I opened this I was surprised at how solid it was. It's like a solid Lush product in a tin. All the body butters I've seen up til now have been like a thick yoghurt or something – creamy. This was more like real butter (from what I remember). I rubbed my fingers along the top and then on my arm and Oh. My. Gods. The tiniest bit goes covers so much skin! You can't even see where it came from in the tin. My initial reaction? “This. Is going. To last. For. EVER.” 

In the picture above you can clearly see a dent where I have been using the butter. I am sure that if my friend hadn't dug into it with her nail to get a lump out it would look untouched as you need so little. Since then whenever I swipe my fingers in I pick up more product than I intend to and use a little too much - which is my usual style. I am pretty oafish, clumsy and heavy-handed when tired and in a rush to leave my house, which is often when I am applying this to my skin.

This is enough for a whole leg.

As I am often so rushed while applying this I was thrilled when I found how quickly it sinks in. You don't need to spend any time rubbing and working it in at all. You just swoosh it on and carry on. This, for me, is great news. I rarely bother to moisturise my skin as it takes up time and energy I need to use for sleeping. I know it's important to moisturise the skin. I just have other priorities. I have some body butter that smells amazing which I dowse myself in when I have the energy and feel like pampering myself, but daily moitsurising? Utter thing of the past. 'Til now. I've been using this a lot as it is so quick and easy to apply. My skin also looks kind-of glowy after application, too. Something I have been enjoying while flirting with myself in the mirror.

At first I wasn't fond of the smell as although it isn't fragranced, there is a slight ... almost plasticy whiff to it when you're boshing it on your bod. This didn't take long to get used to though, and a quick spritz of perfume sorts out any nasal issues going on easily. Really though, I love that it doesn't really have a scent to it. You know how into perfumes I am right now – I don't want to mix my scents up! (I have a perfume for that!) I also have fragrance fear from when my eczema was bad, so anything fragrance free is good with me!

I am really pleased with this product. You get such a lot and need so little. It sinks in quickly and does its job well, as far as I can tell. It really is a spoonie product, too. I genuinely think I will be using it at least once daily (it recommends applying it day and night on the label) which I haven't even begun to fathom about a skin moisturising product in years. Aloe Vera helps heal and nourish the skin too, so I'm sure it'll thank me!

You can pick it up on Amazon here, for £10.99 (usually £13.99). Bargain if you ask me! It's like a decades worth of body butter!

I am really impressed with the Sinivalia skincare range so far, I can wait to report back about these products after a few weeks of use - I hope my skin will be impeccable!

*DISCLAIMER: This post contains a PR sample but my views are 100% honest. (I'm a rubbish liar).

Skincare | Sinivalia Bentonite Clay Detox Face Mask - First Impressions

Ello, ello.

This is another of the Sinivalia products sent to me. This time around we have the Bentonite Detox Face Mask*.

The website says it's good for acne and absorbs oil which would really help my skin. It's also natural, good for sensitive skin, cruelty-free and vegan, paraben, gluten and sulphate free, and made in the UK - all very Lisa-friendly things! The idea of having a tub of face mask mix to use as and when is brilliant. I try to use a face mask at least once a week, and this says it can be used once a week on the label. It also says it exfoliates, something I do two to three times a week, so It's easy to incorporate into my skincare routine. The fact that this is numerous face masks rather than one is awesome. It saves so much hassle and packaging and the tub is huge!

I don't know what I was expecting when I opened it, but I wasn't expecting powder. As it's clay I am not sure why this is, I have a lot of experience with clay. I definitely wasn't expecting to get powder all over me when just unscrewing the lid. It was so full! I felt like I was looking at a years worth of face mask right there.

After a brief chat with my Sinivalia buddy, Kelly of The Vegan Taff about this product, I set to the kitchen to make my first mask. As Kelly had said you only need around a teaspoon of the powder in the mix, I popped a loaded teaspoon into a bowl and dribbled some water in. After a bit of mixing I realised that this wasn't enough water, so added some more. And some more. And some more... until it was way too watery to stay on a face. When I picked up the tub to add some more powder, I realised the instructions said to dissolve it in WARM water (or the Rose Toner from the same company) - I'd used cold. So I started again with warm water, being more careful with the amount I added. I ended up needing another teaspoon of powder (or so I thought). Mixing it reminded me of mixing icing sugar and water.

When I got to this consistency, I decided to put it on my face. As there are no pictures of it mixed on the product, I went for the one that looked like it would at least stay on my face. As I was applying it, it seemed to apply in a thin, translucent layer... which needed hardly any product. I thought I'd double it up a bit and get a thicker consistency on half of my face to see if it made any difference. I did find it quite entertaining how lumps of it looked a bit like bogeys while I was rubbing it in/on. Especially around my nostrils where the lumps gathered. Tee hee. 

One layer.

Two layers.

Bogeys!

I left it on for the recommended 15 minutes, and while I was doing this I decanted the rest of my mixed face mask into a plastic container and popped it in the fridge in hope of not wasting it. While it was on I could feel it drying and my face getting tighter and tighter. I love this about face masks. I like to imagine them pulling all the dirt out of my skin and absorbing all the oil that makes me look so shiny if untended. Once 15 minutes had passed I went to the skin to remove it.

Oh my days. This takes some rubbin' (hey, Ainsley lovers)! I don't think layering up was a good idea – not only did that half not dry completely but it took me about 10 minutes to get this off with warm water. I shall definitely be investing in a flannel for future face mask removal. I shall also keep the layer of face mask thin – if I keep mixing it to the consistency pictured in this post. There is a picture of a lady with this face mask on on the Amazon listing for the product. It has a really smooth, solid texture so I shall be trying for that next time I mix it. Especially as in Kelly's review of this product, she found removal really easy. I think this is because her mix was thicker and so dried better.

My face was all red and ouchy straight after I had removed it but this didn't take long to subside. My skin felt so soft and my pores were smaller than I'd ever really seen them. I looked so toned, smooth and matte. The immediate affects were clearly brilliant, and I can't wait to see how my skin improves using it weekly.

This Sinivalia face mask is available from Amazon here for £10.99 (usually £15.99) which I think is a bargain for the amount if usage you can get from this tub. It's apparently great for anti-aging effects, but due to my beautifully youthful complexion (lol), I wouldn't know much about that... yet.

Do you have any super face masks I should try out? Do you know the secret to mixing this face mask for optimum usage? Do let me know in the comments below of you do! Have a wonderful day.

*DISCLAIMER: This post contains a PR sample but my views are 100% honest. (I'm a rubbish liar).

Lisa Gets Leaner | Weekly Weigh-In - Or Not | 19.07.15

This weekend I haven't been home to weigh myself for my weigh-in, but I don't think posting a proper one is a good idea this week. I have been in some serious payback and working all week so adding to that payback and generally just running myself into, through and beyond the ground. One relapse lead to another - fatigue lead to binging and binging lead to purging. I'm worried that if I weigh myself and I've lost weight this week it might reinforce bulimic behaviours and I really don't want to go down that road again - I like having teeth.

Picture taken from my Why Bulimia Sucks zine available here.

(colour copies will be up again soon)

I've also treated myself and have been treated this week. Soul food has been essential, so have some pictures of it (the food of choice shouldn't surprise anyone that knows me in real life):

There's nothing wrong with being too ill to make an effort to lose weight. I'd rather be fat than bulimic. I'd rather be able to work than not.

Skincare | Sinivalia Anti-Wrinkle Face Rose Cleanser - First Impressions

Hooble doop, tiddlypeeps!

This is the beginning of me telling you what I think of a whole load of Sinivalia products. This is a vegan, London skincare brand, that use only natural ingredients and lots of organic ones. They have kindly provided me with samples to review, but I'm sure I shall be purchasing the rest of the range as soon as I can!

We begin with their Anti-Wrinkle Race Rose Cleanser*.

First thoughts: It smells like Turkish delight! Yay! I used to work in a Turkish-run bakery and the only thing I could eat there was said delight so it brings back great memories. Also, who doesn't love the smell of Turkish delight? When I am rich I will have a constant supply of Lush's Turkish Delight Shower Smoothie as I love the smell so damn much, but having an essential product that smells the same? Awesome. I don't need no smoothie now! It's also lovely to have a rose scent that doesn't smell like old ladies who used too much soap. Some rose scented products I've used do, and I just don't want to use them once I have them.

As I applied this to my skin with a cotton round (these) I did find the smell turned a bit cows milky** which was weird but my skin felt so... toned afterwards that I didn't care. The smell soon goes anyway and leaves the original rosy scent faintly behind. I haven't used a toner that has affects you can feel in years. I know some people complain about some toners leaving your face feeling tight (or used to back in "the day"?), but this was a pleasant, sort-of tight feeling. The feeling that my pores were under control. That I wasn't going to be producing bucket loads of oil all day. I had read Kelly of The Vegan Taff's review of this cleanser and she uses it as a toner, so I looked it up on the website and sure enough - “Doubles as a facial toner for regulating skin pHGentle, Effective Cleansing Actions”. EXCELLENT [also - I just read the bottle and it says it on there, too - yay brain fog]. My usual cleanser is a cleanser and toner in one and I was so relieved that this is too. Not only does it mean not buying a toner to review this product fairly but it means using less product - something my skin and the planet are probably a fan of. After using this, wearing make-up and sweating a whole lot, I checked my skin in the mirror and my skin looked better than normal in that situation. I'm not sure what it was, exactly. possibly a mix of less oil, less redness and smaller pores. I shall report back when I've used it for a longer period of time. I am currently using it day and night as I find it does a great job of removing the sleep grime from my face in the morning / "morning", and rids of all traces of make-up my make-up remover may leave behind.

One of the really appealing for me is that it's free of colours and other nasties, is non-toxic and has many benefits for the skin being nothing but, well, rose water. I used to have really bad dry, sensitive skin and eczema. My skin reacted to anything and anything and the more naturally sourced a product - the better. My skin, since using hormonal contraception, has become an oily, spotty mess. Rather than reacting with eczema it reacts with spots. As this has seems to have already had a positive affect on the oiliness of my face, I'll be interested to know if it helps with the acne. It's also paraben, gluten and sulphate free, if you're into that kind of thing / allergic.

Obviously it's called Anti-Wrinkle Face Rose Cleanser, which I can't really report about right now - mostly because I don't have any wrinkles. I don't think. I'm 27 years young and everyone assumes I'm 23. It does leave my skin feeling really soft, which is nice. If people think I look 18 in a month, I'll let you know.

As this is just a first impressions post, I am really excited to use it for a few weeks and report back with a proper review. I am using it in conjunction with other Sinivalia products which I shall be posting first impressions of soon. This cleanser is available on Amazon here for £10.99 (usually £15.99) which is a good price for such a pure and natural product. I'm often tempted to buy Arbonne skincare products for the skin-friendly ingredients, but this range is much more affordable if you lack the funds.

I look forward to continuing with this product and hope to report back with good news.

*DISCLAIMER: This post contains PR sample but my views are 100% honest. (I'm a rubbish liar).

**I wondered if this was because my rounds hadn't dried properly so tried it with cotton wool but the smell was the same.***

***I think everything smells of cow's milk.

Lisa Gets Leaner | Weekly Weigh-In | 12.07.2015

Hey, peeps.

As this has been a week of alcohol, dancing, singing, actual brain use, going beyond my limits and needing to eat to do the smallest of tasks, it's no surprise that I have gained (dun dun dunnnnnn)... 

...a whooooole pound this week. In fact, I gained way more midweek, then lost it, so it's all good. I have thrown-up a lot though, so um... shrug. I don't know. I've just slept for 13 hours and have no idea what's going on. Staying up til 5am to (successfully!) prevent a suicide may be a lovely thing to do, but doing so the same week as one of your only real nights out of the year? Ow. This illness is dumb, but my lack of foresight can be dumb, too. I am genuinely surprised to have not gained more this week - it's been hard. Well done, me. Cannot wait to get back to a normal week of work and sleep!

Skincare | Superdrug Tea Tree Spot Stick

Hello!

I need to share a little miracle product that I have found.

Spots weren't a consistent issue for me until I began taking the combined contraceptive pill, and after switching to the implant because of my gross skin and the amount of waste involved with daily pills, I still have them. They are smaller and less of a problem, but they're still spots. In the past I have tried various spot treatments, such as Freederm, Dr. Organic Tea Tree Blemish Stick and Lush's Grease Lightning to no avail. After admitting defeat by Grease Lightning when spots became a real thing in my life, I bought this Tea Tree Spot Stick from Superdrug.

It is truly magical. I dab some on my spots before bed and when I wake up they've shrunk and the redness has visibly reduced. If I catch them early they pretty much disappear. It's really quick and easy to apply with the lip gloss style wand and it's nice and small so you can pop it in any bag and apply throughout the day if needed. At £3.29 it's an absolute bargain. While I get the odd absolute monster develop on my face from time to time, which I doubt anything could rid of - this does stop them getting as big and painful as they originally plan to. I can't imagine using anything else on spots anymore, not even toothpaste!

If you have trouble with spots and try this out - I really hope it works for you, too. You can pick it up from Superdrug stores or here. If you have any other magical spot treatments do share them below in the comments, one can never have too many tricks up their sleeve for the little buggers!

Eden Perfumes: No. 43 & No. 57 / Dior Hypotic Poison & Pure Poison Dupes

Ye gods, you guys!

These.

When I was a teenager I woke up after a party with a glorious smell on my wrist. After a few minutes, memories of my friend spraying perfume on me tripped into my brain, so I jumped onto MySpace and asked her what it was. I had to have it. It turned out to be Dior's Hypnotic Poison (thanks, Ellie). After purchasing I doused myself in it all the time and it soon became my signature scent. I bought myself Pure Poison by Dior as I had discovered this thing called perfume and wanted to smell amazing all the time. It was really exciting. These two scents accompanied me for a few years (there were others, but these were the BEST) and made my nose very happy. When learning about the ins and outs of veganism, however, they didn't make my heart very happy. I could be spraying civet cat bum on me?! Gross! And animal testing? Nooooope.

Since then I relied on Lush for perfumes as I wasn't really fussed about scents after the initial excitement of discovering them. Lush, to me at least, is a local (lol) ethically sound (as far as global companies go) source of perfume, usually made by my friends, or friends of friends. The scents back then were so different to usual perfume - Gorilla Perfume wasn't a thing yet. I could choose between smelling of grass, vanilla (pre-Gorilla Vanillary was so much better!), or jelly babies. "This was what perfumes should be about!" I thought.

I haven't really developed much interest in smelling of things again until recently. I've enjoyed some of the Gorilla Perfumes lately, and a friend at work has a plethora of scents and always smells amazing. This inspired me to buy a whole load of smells to put on myself. What also helped, was becoming a member of the Facebook group 100% Vegan Products UK. It has constant posts from new vegans asking about things, and almost every day includes an ask about vegan perfume. These are always answered by people recommending Eden Perfumes in Brighton, for they make vegan dupes of perfumes made by the big players in the scent game (those with adverts on the telly and such).

Last week I finally got round to seeing if they had dupes for my beloved Poisons and sure enough - they did! For under half the price. I ordered them without hesitation, then, after seeing all the glowing reviews for Eden, I was really excited for their delivery. They arrived quickly and although I was scared they wouldn't be perfect, I ripped them out and had a whiff. And..... oh. My. God. They are exactly the same as the Dior perfumes! I smelt them and was transported back to my angsty, fucked-up teenage self. Smells are time machines I tell ya! I love the simplistic packaging and DIY-ness of the labeling. They look so sleek next to each other on my shelf. I'd love a neat collection of them!

So basically I'm really, really impressed with these and will most likely buy more even though I am trying to save money. The perfumes make me so happy and I couldn't recommend them enough. Even if you're not huge into animals, the environment or your own health - these are £15 a bottle! Swapping the big brands for these dupes saves money. What is there possibly to not rave about here?

Do you have any favourite vegan perfumes the world needs to know about or experiences with Eden Perfumes? I'd love to know about them down in the comments.

***UPDATE***

My memory has decided to work today and the perfume illustrated called Grass was actually called Green, I think. There was a body spray, too. It was lovely. ....was it Green? Does anyone remember?

Lisa Gets Leaner | Weekly Weigh-In | 05.07.2015

Hey ho.

It's officially summer, it seems. Can I fit into my goal dress properly? No. Have I even lost weight? Yes!

One whole pound! Which is something considering this has been a week of overworking and overeating. I have still been using the MyFitnessPal app on days I feel well enough to count calories. I am finding this more relaxed approach to dieting much easier to deal with when i am more fatigued. I'm sure if my energy levels improve again I shall pay more attention to it, but for now, doing what I can when I can is working and keeping me happy. Anorexia is definitely being kept at bay :)

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday! If you have any tips for losing weight with a chronic illness I'd love to hear them in the comments.

OOTD | Slightly Punk Rock Waitress

As I wear this outfit - and variations of it, almost every day, I thought I'd do an OOTD on it. I like being able to express a certain me-ness through my clothes while abiding by the rules. Also, my life is super boring.

*TOP BLOGGER TIP* when posing for OOTDs, stand into the wind in a loose-fitting top for a SUPER flattering waist shape.

As you can see, the colour (or absence of light) we're required to wear is; black. Which is great! As a very round, punk-loving teenager, black was my best friend. It was apparently slimming and CRASS taught me to wear all black, always.

Tying your hair back into a ponytail shows people you mean serious business. In films, the women always tie their hair up if they're about to do some hard science or beat the shit out of someone. I like people to think I'm all about serving their food or pulling their pints. Serious Business. Business Time. ..no, wait. Not business time.

Where I get to be really punk-rock is with my trousers and shoes! Vegan Dr. Martens and turn-up skinny pantaloons? Hell yes!

The apron is great for having pockets when your girl-trousers have none. Pockets are good for order pads, pens and lip balm. 

Why are so many clothes made for women so shit at storage and practicality?! We can't carry handbags around at work - stop trying to make us buy more!

Why do you hate models, Matilda?

This pretty rose quartz necklace represents my secret timelord identity. (It's two hearts)

Face is punk as fuck. Duh.

Slim work trousers with turn-ups AND pockets | Primark

T-shirt | Primark via my boss via the printers via my boss again

Apron | ebay

Shoes | Dr. Martens

Necklace | National Trust Shop

I hope this post brings something positive into the world.